Eskom has begun cutting the power supply to defaulting municipalities. The good news is that KwaZulu-Natal is unaffected by this.

Has the Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality managed to avoid the supply interruption? Eskom had given several municipalities a due date to settle outstanding debts or make payment plans to avoid being in the dark.

During September last year when Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality Mayor Jabulile Mbele condemned the illegal strike action, she was quoted as saying: “…the municipality is suffering great financial debt for example the R42 million outstanding amount with Eskom.”

The Estcourt Chamber of Business recently notified its members via email saying the following, “We have received confirmation from the Municipal Manager at Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality that the Eskom debt has been paid.

“Therefore we are not in any danger to have any electricity interruptions within our municipality.”

At this point we are unsure if our local municipality reached a payment plan through the assistance of provincial government or made payment in full.

At the time of going to print, no comment was received from the municipality.